The resulting findings confirm that the A4 is built using a "package on package" method, so the 256MB of Samsung-provided SDRAM sits right on top of the CPU, which is reductive to latency and energy use.

iFixit concludes that the iPad seems to be running on a Cortex A8 – but Engadget notes that "their assertion that it couldn't be a Cortex A9 MPCore inside is inaccurate, as those chips also come in single-core options.

It will be interesting to compare performance with Samsung's own Hummingbird chip - designed by Intrinsity, the chip company Apple is rumoured to have recently acquired.